Hello Danes

Author: Hello Danes

  • Double Merle Great Danes: 5 Facts About White Great Danes

    Double Merle Great Danes: 5 Facts About White Great Danes

    You may have heard the term ‘Double Merle’ associated with Great Danes. Double Merle Great Danes can be beautiful, but why are they this color? How do you get a pure white Great Dane?

    Here are 5 facts about white Great Danes that you maybe didn’t know!

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    What Are Double Merle Great Danes?

    A double merle Great Dane will be most often all white or close to it. (White Great Danes). Some may have merle patches and not be pure white.

    As striking as they can be, this is not a color that should be intentionally produced, celebrated, or desired in Great Danes.

    Double Merle Great Danes are often blind and/or deaf and can have other significant health problems, including autoimmune disorders, eye disorders, deformities, aggression, allergies, and problems with their heart, thyroid, and digestive system.

    It’s important to note that not all ‘double merle’ dogs will have health or temprement problems. However, many will.

    Many DM (double-merle) Great Danes are pure white, however, they can have some spots (most often merle patches). The absence of color around the ears and eyes is a contributing factor to deafness and blindness.

    A Harlequin Great Dane is white with torn black patches and is NOT double-merle. Fawnequin and brindlequin are also not double merle, even though they have a white base coat like a harlequin does.

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    A double-merle white Great Dane

    How Are Double Merle Great Danes Made?

    Many Great Danes carry the merle gene. Merle genes are responsible for creating the beautiful Merle and Harlequin coats, as well as many off standard colors with spots (‘merlequin’, ‘fawnequin’, etc.).

    By itself, the merle gene is ok.

    When a puppy receives TWO copies of the merle gene (one from each parent that carries it), they are ‘double-merle’.

    Double Merle puppies happen in litters where a breeder paired (either intentionally or accidentally) two dogs that each carry the merle gene. Not all puppies in a litter bred like this will be double-merle.

    Each puppy in the litter has a 1-in-4 chance of receiving BOTH merle genes. To put this into perspective, that’s leaves each puppy (in the litter) a 75% chance that they will NOT be double merle, and have a normal single-merle coat pattern.

    It is important to note that Double Merle dogs are 100% preventable.

    This highlights the importance of genetic color testing prior to breeding, for breeders that are unsure if either dog in the pairing is merle or not. Color testing can be done HERE.

    Double Merle Great Dane Health Problems

    Not all white Great Danes will have health problems. However, because of their unique genetic makeup, many of them do. Here are some common things seen in double-merle Great Danes.

    • Deafness
    • Blindness
    • Under developed eyes
    • Eye problems that lead to pain or blindness
    • Auto-immune disorders
    • Allergies and skin sensitivities
    • Poor overall conformation (resulting from bad breeding practices)
    • Aggression, fear, and other temperament problems (instability)
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    A white Great Dane

    Double Merle Practices & History in Great Danes

    Double merle dogs are most often produced by unethical backyard breeders who either had “no idea this could happen“, or didn’t care.

    Some breeders pair merle + merle dogs because they are in pursuit of ‘interesting’ designer colors. The flashy merle gene may result in some puppies getting catchy or trending colors that sell well and result in profits for the breeder.

    Additionally, in the world of show dogs, some show breeders intentionally pair two Harlequin Great Danes with exceptional pedigrees because the pairing may produce desirable ‘show marked Harlequins’.

    At times, this is done because well-built and appropriate black or mantle studs are hard to find, and keeping the gene pool diverse is important.

    Unlike the backyard breeders who don’t understand genetics, however, a show breeder pairing merle + merle will often utilize genetic testing and a thorough study of the pedigree, which can help greatly reduce the risks associated with this practice.

    The actual length of the merle gene carried by each parent can affect the outcome, and will be part of the considerations involved when pairing two dogs with a merle gene. This is what makes color testing so important.

    The GDCA condones this practice, as of this writing.

    Editor’s Note: At Hello Danes we are fierce advocates for truly ethical show breeders. It’s important to note that there is a massive difference between a backyard breeder (whom we don’t support for any reason) and a breeder who is showing, color testing, and fully OFA health testing their dogs prior to breeding.

    While we don’t personally condone the practice of breeding “spot to spot” for show purposes, we recognize that it happens and understand why. It’s seen in MANY pedigrees.

    Our stance is that backyard breeders and unethical breeders, especially those breeding for fancy colors and dumping puppies in rescue are the biggest issue to contend with when it comes to double-merle dogs.

    It’s important that Dane owners not get ‘lost’ in the double-merle discussion, as 100% of sick, unhealthy, abandoned double-merle puppies are coming from unethical breeders.

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    Double Merle Danes & Breeders

    Unethical breeders who produce white puppies may lie to buyers about them. They will often say that they are a ‘designer color’ and sell them at a premium price. Many others will dump them on rescues when they are born.

    These are not reputable practices. It doesn’t matter how ‘friendly’ or nice the breeder seems, if they are dumping white puppies or selling them at a premium, they are a backyard breeder.


    The Great Dane Club of America condones the practice of hard culling (euthanizing) deaf double-merle puppies by 5 weeks of age; this is practiced by some breeders, most often the ‘old school’ type.

    Advances in merle gene color testing, we believe, has greatly reduced this practice.

    Other breeders (typically the show breeders that are focused on structure, health, and temperament) take responsibility for these pups (if they end up with some in a litter) and will find them suitable, quality homes and support them for life.

    Always ask questions and never support breeders that don’t ethically take care of pups from their double-merle pairings!

    In a spot-spot pairing, each puppy has a 25% (or 1 in 4) chance of receiving both copies of the merle gene (one from each parent), making them ‘double merle’. 

    Some of the double merle puppies will be reabsorbed by the mother long before birth, they simply don’t make it.

    In a live litter, there may be no double merle puppies or there could be several.

    Be clear about statistics with this one. Some people will say that 25% of the litter will be double merle, and that’s not how it works.


    Each puppy is the one saddled with that 1-in-4 statistic, not the litter as a whole.

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    Great Dane Genetics & Color Testing

    Ethical, educated breeders who aren’t sure and want to avoid breeding double-merle dogs in the first place will use modern advances in genetics testing to confirm the colors of each dog in a potential pairing.

    This test can be found HERE.

    Bad Breeders
    Scam Breeders: What to Look For
    Breeders: Shady Business
    Should I Choose a Breeder or Rescue?
    Choosing a Dog From a Show Breeder
    What Makes a Breeder Good?

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    Off-Standard Colors & The Merle Gene

    The merle gene is beautiful and flashy. It’s responsible for Harlequin and Merle (standard colors) which are always popular.

    (OFF STANDARD GREAT DANES)

    If you are looking for a color that isn’t accepted by the AKC as a show color, tread cautiously.

    Some fancy colors are the result of spot-spot breedings, and unethical breeders will do this because they know it may get you to spend your money with them.

    Merlequin is a popular off-standard color that comes from spot-spot breed pairings. Genetically, a Merlequin is actually a double-merle dog.

    Like any other double-merle, this dog may or may not have health problems.

    If you are set on finding a puppy in a ‘designer‘ color, make sure your breeder is focused first on health, structure, and temperament.

    Merlequin are double-merle dogs who have the harlequin pattern (torn patches of color) but instead of having mostly black torn patches, all of their patches are merle. Imagine a harlequin Dane with merle spots instead of black and merle spots, essentially.

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    Double Merle Great Danes in Rescue

    Entire rescues are dedicated to helping the double-merle dogs that are created by unethical breeding practices, and they are FULL.

    Just the other day I saw a 4-month-old white puppy. The rescue was looking for a very special and hard-to-find home because the puppy was already showing signs of aggression, fear, and guarding.

    She required surgery to remove her eyes because they did not develop properly. She also had additional structural problems that will lead to pain later in life.

    Backyard breeding is not ok. This is not ok. We have to STOP supporting breeders that do this, whether it was intentional or not. The breeders won’t stop, so it’s up to us as puppy buyers and advocates for Great Danes.

    Double Merle Great Danes

    Adopt a Double Merle Dog

    If we want to stop the production of double-merle dogs, we have to educate people so that they stop rewarding breeders for producing them.

    Double Merle dogs are 100% preventable. There is no excuse, but despite the existence of blogs, veterinary documents, reputable breeders, educated buyers, rescues, and people like us who shout from the rooftops, it still happens.

    Share this with others, keep spreading the word. Great Dane owners with ‘ooops’ litters that happen ‘accidentally’ between their pet Danes are another contributor. This is also preventable through educated ownership and responsibility.

    Support 501c3 Great Dane rescues, adopt double merles, choose only highly ethical breeders, and have fun with your Danes!

    READ MORE:

    Top 5 Adorable Facts About Great Danes

    What Does Euro Mean In Great Danes?
    Great Dane Not Eating – What to Do
    Great Dane Farts: The Funniest Collection of Photos and Videos on the Internet
    The Best Collars for Great Danes
    Blue Great Danes – Facts, Photos, and Care
    Great Dane Colors

  • Puppy Culture – Early Socialization for Great Dane Puppies

    Puppy Culture – Early Socialization for Great Dane Puppies

    Socialization for Great Dane puppies is SO important! Puppy Culture is a dedicated socialization program that good breeders use on puppies from birth onward to ensure that their puppies are stable, friendly, and resilient. Finding a breeder who participates in Puppy Culture is a good thing!

    Many people believe that puppy socialization means taking them to the pet store and the dog park. However, doing so can actually cause the puppy to have bad experiences and become more fearful!

    This is especially true for Great Dane puppies that may have come from breeders who are not focused on developing sound and stable temperaments.

    Good socialization is actually a combination of positive experiences, exposure to different sights, sounds and textures, and a keen understanding of how to utilize small amounts of stress to build confidence and resilience.

    Socialization is how you teach dogs to live in our world. They learn to be confident, because they know that everyday things (other dogs, people, sounds, textures) aren’t going to hurt them.

    Confident, well-socialized dogs are calm, easy to train and free of aggression, fear and frustration.

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    What is Puppy Culture?

    Puppy Culture is a written protocol for socializing puppies before they leave the litter at 8-12 weeks. Good breeders will use this protocol, even though it requires a LOT of their time. 

    We talk a LOT about choosing ethical breeders, and this is one reason why!

    Quality breeders socialize puppies a lot before they go home with you. This helps keep dogs OUT of rescues and shelters, and helps to make sure that the dog you welcome into the family is positive, friendly and free of aggression.  

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    What is Involved in Puppy Culture?

    Puppy Culture goes beyond exposure to grass, tile, and other dogs.

    To give you an example of a non-Puppy Culture (but standard) approach, some breeders will allow their puppies to play in the grass outside and be exposed to children or farm animals. They will keep the puppies in an enclosed space and let them poop or pee at will. These breeders may attempt to trim their nails, but will do little else to expose the puppies to handling, experiences, or otherwise.

    Puppy Culture breeders, however, will:

    • Handle the puppies all over, often, and may even employ ENS (a form of early stress that has been shown in studies to increase resilience)
    • Introduce teeth cleaning, exams, and nail trims early on and often
    • Introduce crates and early hygienic potty habits
    • Create times where each puppy is alone and away from the litter
    • Expose the litter to everyday sounds in the home, including vacuums, hammers, and hair dryers
    • Work on their engagement with humans and desire to stay close and recall
    • Use positive methods to work on bite control/puppy biting and prevent resource guarding type behaviors
    • Create safe obstacles for the puppies to overcome, such as ramps, tires, beams and wobble boards
    • Have the puppy touch and explore as many surfaces as possible with their paws and nose
    • Invite puppy lovers over to play with the puppies several weeks before they go to their new homes

    Breeders who utilize all Puppy Culture protocols are dedicating a significant amount of time, effort, and love to doing so and the results are incredible!

    Pro Tip: When choosing a breeder for your Great Dane puppy, please note that some breeders are relying on buzz words such as “Puppy Culture” and “OFA Health Tested” to generate sales.

    However, they are not fully participating in these programs and many of them cut corners. Make sure to ask a lot of questions! Ask for verification of their socialization efforts AND the full health test results (heart, hips, eyes, thyroid which should be published at www.ofa.org) of both parents.

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    Socialization of Fearful Great Dane Puppies

    Fearful or unsure puppies will keep their bodies low to the ground. They may pin their ears back, tuck their tail, and keep their head shrugged or hung low.  Additionally, they will shy away from eye contact. When being handled, they may cower, act ‘head shy’ or roll onto their side or back. 

    Fearful puppies should be socialized as early as possible. Unfortunately, fearful behavior is often the result of unstable genetics, and many fearful Great Danes are plagued with a combination of bad genetics and poor early socialization.

    Socialization does not mean forcing your fearful Great Dane puppy to interact with other dogs or humans in situations that they could get hurt- like dog parks.

    Socialization of Great Dane puppies means that you are exposing them to new situations and allowing them to learn that these situations are not actually scary.

    For fearful puppies, this means going slowly and building confidence through positive experiences.

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    Socialization of Puppies Who Are Confident

    Confident puppies will have their heads up and their ears forward. They are more likely to make eye contact and truly engage with people. They will be interested in tackling obstacles and will have plenty of energy to do just that!

    When they are raised with Puppy Culture, they are especially good at maintaining focus and even sitting as a form of ‘please’.

    Confident puppies often need more obedience training to prevent them from wandering off out of curiosity for something in the environment. They are often very receptive to positive reinforcement, and love to be trained, too!

    The good news is that Puppy Culture satisfies their curiosity and confidence, while rewarding them for engaging with humans and responding to requests to come back and look for direction.

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    Why Does Puppy Socialization Matter?

    Puppies from healthy, well-tempered parents that are properly socialized from birth are more likely to be confident, curious and calm family pets.

    For giant breed dogs, this translates to them being easier to live with, easier to handle, and safer around other dogs, people, and situations of all kinds.

    Fear and aggression are considered one of the top three risk factors for bloat in Great Danes!

    For health reasons, helping Great Dane puppies grow into confident and resilient adults is also incredibly important! Many dogs who experience bloat are fearful, timid, and aggressive.

    Installing confidence and a calm indifference to the environment makes training a breeze, too! Dogs that are over-stimulated or anxious about the environment around them will have a much harder time learning and focusing.

    A lot of aggression and reactivity is based in fear. The world can be an overwhelming place!  

    Great Danes are prone to anxiety and aloof, timid, or even aggressive behaviors. But none of that is actually within the written breed standard, and none of it has to be a reality.

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    Socialize Your Great Dane Puppy

    Even if your puppy didn’t come from a breeder that spent a lot of time on socialization or Puppy Culture, there are LOTS of things you can do! 

    Expose your puppy to a variety of textures; wood chips, sand, blankets, tile, gravel, grass, cement and bridges. 

    Give them obstacles such as tunnels, ramps, platforms and FIT Paws, then encourage and reward them for being confident and exploring!

    Expose them to a variety of people wearing glasses, hats, masks and walking with strollers, bicycles, wheelchairs, canes, walking sticks, snowshoes and skis. Instead of asking those people to pet your puppy, just sit and watch them from afar.

    Explore novel environments and encourage curiosity. 

    Need more? Check out our positive Great Dane puppy socialization guide HERE.

    We hope this helps you not only choose ethical breeders that are creating wonderful family dogs, but find the Great Dane of your dreams! 

  • WHAT IS A BACKYARD BREEDER? THE AKC, UNFORTUNATELY, HAS 1000’S.

    WHAT IS A BACKYARD BREEDER? THE AKC, UNFORTUNATELY, HAS 1000’S.

    What is a backyard breeder? Why is is so important to be educated about unethical breeding practices? How do we save puppies from backyard breeders?

    There are many questions to ask when it comes to unethical breeding and backyard breeders. These practices are harming the breed we love and causing heartache and headaches for rescues and families.

    You might be surprised to find that the AKC is riddled with backyard breeders. Having AKC registration is not a sign that the puppy is healthy, well-bred, or even pure-bred!

    Yeah, we’re going to go there. If you are looking for a Great Dane puppy, this post is for you.

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    What Is A Backyard Breeder?

    Many people believe that all home breeders are backyard breeders (because they ‘breed dogs in their backyard’).

    This is actually a matter of nuance in language. The term “backyard breeder” has a very broad meaning.

    A “backyard breeder” refers to any individual who breeds puppies without committing to the necessary measures for ensuring the full health testing, structure, temperament, breed standards, and overall well-being of the puppies throughout their lives, regardless of where they end up.

    There are MANY friendly, nice “backyard breeders” who claim to health test their puppies.

    They may even raise them indoors around kids and farm animals. It’s likely they even have a website and are recommended by others who are looking to purchase a Great Dane puppy.

    But they are cutting corners somewhere, and THAT is what makes them a backyard breeder!

    It doesn’t matter how clean the facility is, or how nice the breeder is.

    Make no mistake, if they are breeding out of standard dogs, dogs with poor structure and temperaments, breeding dogs without FULL OFA health testing (see HERE), and not supporting those puppies for life, they are a backyard breeder.

    Like we said above, the AKC has thousands of them.

    Backyard breeders are more common than puppy mills, but despite their ‘friendly’ exterior they do a LOT more damage.

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    What is the AKC?

    AKC is one of the most recognizable acronyms in the dog world.

    They document pedigrees by giving breeders a place register their purebred litters. They also offer a range of services from dog shows & conformation to sports, advocacy and training certifications.

    You can learn more about the AKC here.

    One International version is FCI, you can learn more about them here. 

    Others exist as well, some are good, others are a place for bad breeders to get ‘papers’ for their dogs with unknown or mixed-breed lineage.

    The word ‘papers’ is now actually relatively meaningless because of this. AKC registrations are a wonderful way to document and see the pedigree (lineage) of a dog. They are important, but they aren’t everything.

    AKC papers do NOTHING to monitor if the dogs who have ‘purebred’ registrations even meet the standard for the breed they claim to be. This is how we’ve ended up with millions of Great Danes whose structure is so poor they suffer from orthopedic disorders. Their eyes are so droopy they need surgery to correct it. Their heads so big and jowls so droopy they look more like Mastiffs than Great Danes.

    Not to mention the litany of health and temperament issues that come from breeders who are pairing dogs just because they happen to be ‘purebred’.

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    Technically, Only Purebred Dogs Can Be AKC Registered

    Mixed breed dogs and dogs with unknown lineage cannot be registered with the AKC.

    If a breeder is trying to sell you a ‘Danoodle’ or ‘Labradane’ with ‘papers’, know that the papers are probably from a made-up or low quality dog registry.

    The AKC does try to maintain standards and educate breeders and buyers. However, having AKC papers is NOT enough to prove the quality of a genetic line or dogs against the written standard.

    Remember the game ‘telephone’?

    You sit in a circle with your friends. The first person whispers a phrase to the next person, who then takes that phrase and whispers it to the person next to them. The phrase makes its way around the circle.

    The phrase may have begun as ‘I like to eat cake’ , but always ends with something completely different and usually funny. ‘I think you are fake’ for example.

    The practice of breeding a Great Dane simply because it has ‘AKC Papers’ can create entire lines of registered, purebred Great Danes that look very little like Great Danes. Just like the game of telephone that we played as children!

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    Purebred Does Not Mean Well Bred

    Of course, we are major dog and breed snobs over here, but even as a not-snobby pet owner you should care deeply about this breed.

    Poorly bred dogs are more likely to suffer from health problems, including painful, frustrating and expensive conditions such as allergies, hip dysplasia, cardiac disease, aggression, fear, blindness/deafness and autoimmune disorders.

    Careless breeders are everywhere, and they breed dogs purely for profit, not because they care about health.

    There are many purebred Great Danes suffering from health conditions that are largely preventable with selective breeding, including poor hips, bloat, heart disease, entropion, and more.

    These disorders shorten the life span of Great Danes and contribute to the unfortunate reality that these giant dogs are both short lived and fragile.

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    So, How Can I Avoid Backyard Breeders?

    In no way are we saying that imperfect Great Danes don’t deserve a home, or that your imperfect Dane isn’t good enough. (Truth! Ask me about my dainty three-legged Dane! I love the underdogs).

    What we are saying, however, is that AKC papers can mean surprisingly little in the world of ethical breeding practices.

    AKC Papers do not mean that a dog was bred with health and structure and temperament in mind.

    They do not mean that a Great Dane exemplifies the appropriate health and structure of the breed.

    Having AKC registrations is not a sign that a dog is of sound breeding quality and should be bred.

    It is important to find Great Dane breeders who are:

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    No, You Don’t Need a Show Dog

    It would be super snobby and misguided for us to say that everybody should have a perfect, beautiful show dog and expect nothing less.

    We don’t believe that. We believe that there are breeders out there creating wonderful pet dogs. 

    What we encourage you to be very educated on, however, is the difference between a backyard, unethical breeder and one that truly cares about the health and temperament of the dogs they are creating.

    Stop buying dogs from backyard breeders! Every time you support a breeder who doesn’t care about structure, health and temperament you support an industry that is creating thousands of dogs who eventually end up euthanized or in rescue.